Alleys of Venice
by Muffinizer
Summary: DISCONTINUED. Left FanFiction . net. Thank you for reading!
1. Venezia

_Alleys of Venice_

_Chapitre One_

_Venezia_

**Argh. I couldn't help myself! I just had to make another Fai-Kurogane story. Probably a bit Sakura-Syaoran but who knows? Anyway, this is probably the third multi-chapitred Fai-Kurogane story for me… I hope you like it, seeing that '_Boo!_' was an actual success. All right. Go me. :D**

**Note: If you have read the story _The Thief Lord_ and the whole 'Scipio steals goods for the kids in the theatre' well, let's just say someone is similar to Scipio here. And also, I take Italian for my language in school so yeah; it's better than looking up Japanese and stuffing it into the story without really knowing how to form a sentence. **

**Another Note: Ashura and Fai are on good terms with each other, okay? Think of them as brothers; like, a friend who you've known for so long that they considered family. Yeah. I just can't make Ashura mean…;; And uh, since I didn't get up to 'that' one, I'll stick with the one from Shura Country.**

**Disclaimer: Y'know what? Why don't I just like, stamp the damnable disclaimer onto your _forehead_ so you can see it everyday when you look in the mirror, reminding yourself that Muffinizer doesn't own any manga/anime yet, damn it?**

**Summary: Venezia, Italy was filled with homeless kids back in the time, kids who couldn't afford food unless they would pick pocket. Thieves like those were shunned away from his life, and weren't in for it if seen during the day. So when Fai D. Flowright meets a teenager the same age as him who _helps_ those little pests, will he hate that person too? **

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Weary azure eyes looked up at the sign that read 'Biblioteca'. A pale hand reached out to slide the door open, all the while trying to keep a pile of books from falling. The person stepped into the silent, dull room, humming silently as the same pale hands began sorting out the reference books in separate piles.

"Hmm… Trigonometry… Topology," the person muttered to themselves under their breath, softly placing the hard covered book in the pile of hard covers whilst the other went to the paper backs.

"Flowright-sempai, you can leave now," someone had called out from outside the room. Said person whipped their head around and smiled gratefully at the freshman before him.

"Ah, thank you, Fuji-kun." A tall, rather thin boy with unruly black hair had appeared before the older, smiling at him.

"Flowright-sempai..." The blond stopped him from talking, pushing a book into his chest.

"It's Fai, Fuji. Call me Fai, please." Fuji nodded and took the book from the older, placing it down on the table in the middle of the room.

"Oh, Flow- I mean, Fai-sempai," he called out before the blond stepped out of the library. Fai turned his head to look back and had a questioning look on his face.

"People are talking about Ashura-sempai; apparently he came back from Trentino. You _are_ going to visit him, right? I heard that he's wanted to see you since this morning…"

The blonde's face brightened slightly before he regained his previous posture, smiling at the freshman. "I see. Thank you, Fuji-kun." Sliding the door open again, Fai slipped out of the library, leaving a rather puzzled boy in the room.

…

"… sama, please have something light to eat at least," a young teenager begged, holding out a tray that held two sunny-side ups including sausages on the side of the plate. Her shimmering amethyst eyes seemed to have reflected sorrow and pain, but the boy sitting in the black leather chair didn't seem to mind.

"Hn. Just leave the tray there and leave please, Daidouji-san."

The girl was about to protest, to yell out and threaten him to eat something or else, but she hesitated and was ready to turn on her heels and leave. "But Kurogane-sama, you cannot just skip meals like this everyday!"

Kurogane, who had piercing ruby eyes unlike Daidouji, stood up from his chair and took a sausage, nibbling on it before dropping it back on the plate.

"If I eat, then you'll leave me alone." It was more along the lines of a statement, but somewhere along the lines, Daidouji-san seemed to have picked it up as a question.

"Only if you eat, Kurogane-sama. If not, I have every right to tell mistress-." Before the girl could finish her sentence, Kurogane threateningly pointed a finger at her, scowling.

"You _dare_ tell okaa-san and I will not hesitate to kick you out of this house. Understood?"

Daidouji Tomoyo nodded dumbly before scurrying out of the room in panic. Kurogane sighed as he relaxed back into his chair, closing his eyes. His hand raked through his spiky short hair, thinking about the previous days in he had spent in the city they had last visited.

_If only okaa-san had allowed me to stay back in Napoli…_ the teenager though bitterly as he dropped his hand back onto his lap, letting out a stressed groan.

From the open window in his room to the right of the desk he was sitting at a pigeon flew in, dropping a folded piece of paper in front of Kurogane before flying away. He opened the paper and read the sloppy message written on it, but he was still able to understand the cry of help.

'_Kurogane-sempai,_

_Welcome back from Napoli. Now back to Venezia._

_We'll need you to sneak into Marino's house again. We're running low on money and supplies. Touya-sempai twisted his ankle the other day and couldn't go in himself._

_We're counting on you, okay? It's not like they'll notice that you stole anything._

_Thanks.'_

He frowned as he read the message multiple times.

_He twisted his ankle again? What a klutz._

Getting up from the leather seat again, Kurogane pulled out a drawer, reaching for any necessary items he would need for the raid that night. He took gloves just in case it was that hard to get the supplies. After closing the drawer, he stared at the plate of food wearily once more.

_Daidouji-san… _Kurogane took a sausage and bit into it, grimacing at the oily taste of the meat.

Kurogane opened the biggest window in his room, south of his desk, and took a step onto the wide balcony. He took in a deep breath of the night sky, muttering almost inaudible words that only he himself could hear.

And then, as Kurogane leaned against the railing that bordered the balcony, he jumped off swiftly as if he had done this almost every night.

There was a rather loud splash, some muffled spluttering and then it was silent again.

…

Fai D. Flowright was stumbling through the city's alleyways while carrying two bags of groceries. He grunted as he blindly tripped over a rock on the ground again, cursing quietly as he lost his grip on one of the bags. Picking up the fruits and vegetables he had recently bought, Fai stuffed them in the brown paper bag again before setting off.

"That's it; get the gold spoon, Cane! We can make _tons_ of Euros from that!" someone with a voice deep yet rather high shouted. Cats started screeching at the sudden exclamation and scattered away before Fai's feet.

"Shh! You make too much noise!" another scolded. A light smack was heard and then the previous boy let out a yelp.

"Both of you, shut up!" a boy who was busy doing something ordered, silencing the two. Curious, Fai walked down the alley until the narrow path ended and an apartment covered in vines appeared before him.

Fai looked up and spotted three figures on the roof of the apartment. One, apparently, was trying to break into the house by ripping the roof off, while the other two were fighting over what to get. Fai, being the good guy, dropped his grocery bags, ran up to the building and shouted,

"Hey! You three, get off of that apartment!" he yelled just enough for them to hear but not loud enough to wake up all of Venezia. One of the figures looked down from the roof, the person's head popping out. Fai could barely make out the unruly chestnut hair, but his eyes looked as black as the sky.

"Shh! We're trying to-."

"I know what you're trying to do!" Fai snapped. "It's wrong to steal from other people's house, especially the type of things that people treasure." He placed his hands on his hips, glaring at the boy who was looking at him intensely. During their talk, the third figure had jumped off the roof silently, approaching Fai as he was distracted.

"So get off the roof now before I call someone." Fai huffed and turned to pick up his bags when a cold hand wrapped around his waist, trapping him so he couldn't move. The person behind him took his other hand and placed it over Fai's mouth, shushing him.

"You won't tell _anyone_ about this," the person whispered threateningly, his mouth right beside Fai's ear, "because if you do, you won't be able to see the next sunrise of tomorrow." Fai let out an audible gulp as the person before him slowly let go of him, painstakingly slow. "Understood?"

Unable to find his voice, Fai nodded quickly before running off to grab his bag of groceries and dashing into the alley once again.

_Detour, schmetour. I'd rather walk fifteen miles than meet up with **that** guy again._

He glanced back once to catch the person's eyes. His jaw dropped as he saw the unreadable crimson-like eyes staring back at him and gulped again when he saw the playful smirk plastered on his face. Fai ran for his life.

…

"Oi, Kurogane-sempai!" the boy on the roof called from above, waving his arms in the air. "We still haven't gotten the spoon-!"

"Shh! You can't wake them up!" he scolded in a low whisper, glaring at him.

"Eh, Syaoran, shut up for a moment okay?" the person beside him muttered as the person stood up and dragged the boy away.

"Sakura-chan, let go!" Syaoran whined, kicking his feet in the air and tugging at the extended arm.

"Shut up."

…

Panting, sweating, running, gasping. Fai had finally ended up at his apartment, falling against the wooden door that too was covered in vines. Dreadfully he looked up at the number Fifty Seven that was carved into the wood in gold.

"Okaa-san, I'm home," he called out as he walked into the foyer, kicking off his shoes and shrugging his back pack off. He looked around in the kitchen, frowning. "Eh, okaa-san where are you?"

"Your okaa-san isn't here right now, Fai-kun." Not used to the voice being heard around here, Fai spun around quickly and rudely pointed at the person in front of him.

"Who the he-?"

First, Fai noticed the long, flowing pitch black hair covering the broad shoulders clad in a white, fluffy coat.

"Eh?" The blond jumped up in shock, not taking his eyes off of the being. "Ashura?" he exclaimed.

_What? Wait, why… How did he get in? _Fai thought as said boy smirked down at him.

"No need to be so surprised, Fai-kun. Your okaa-san let me look over you for the next few days. She's away at Milano for fashion business." Ashura let out a dry chuckle in a rather lady-like way. He waved his hand in the air while beckoning Fai over.

"I made you dinner," he said simply before leaving to set up the tables in the dining room. Fai's feet were still planted onto the ground, his blue eyes wide in shock.

_Okaa-san would've told me before she left! _

"Well, welcome back, Ashura!" Fai yelled out happily before running into the dining room himself.

…

Kurogane smiled at the treasures before him: golden spoons with gems on the handle, silver carvings engraved onto the handles too.

The boy Syaoran had been drooling over the golden items, touching them lightly as if they were going to break sooner with a careless touch. Sakura on the other hand just glanced over at them once and turned her back against them.

"This is stupid; stupid, stupid, stupid!" she grumbled under her breath as she began kicking pebbles here and there around the empty streets. "Don't we have enough money already?"

Syaoran sighed. "Well, Touya-sempai is still injured, Sakura! You can't forget your own brother." The emerald eyed girl stood still for a moment, just a brief second, but then began kicking the stones again.

"Shut up."

Kurogane placed the spoons into the leather bag once more, handing it over to Syaoran. "Here; go sell it to Celestino tomorrow morning. No less than three hundred Euro per piece, got it?" The younger boy nodded happily.

"Grazie, Kurogane-sempai!" With that the two kids ran off deeper into the alleyway, chasing off mice and pigeons that were still roaming around the land.

The teenager let out a sigh as he rested on an empty crate, legs propped up on top of another one in front of him. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, just to catch some fresh air that was rarely found around the busy city of Venezia. After about a minute, Kurogane stood up to leave since he finished his work for the night.

Kicking the small pebbles with his feet, Kurogane made his way into the streets of Venezia and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his coat. But he stopped when he heard a piano playing off in the distance, somewhere in the apartments around him.

"_I'm happy just to be with you_

_Just to see your smile_

_So take me_

_Somewhere far from here_

_Take me away_

… _To happiness…"_

To Kurogane the song sounded rather depressing as if the singer had lost their true love of their life or something. Something in the back of his clicked as the same person began singing again.

"_I'm happy just to be with you_

_Just to see your smile_

_So take me _

_Somewhere far from here_

_I wish…_

_For happiness…"_

The voice sounded familiar, as if he had heard it five minutes ago. But the only person he's ever heard from was Sakura and Syaoran, and Syaoran didn't sound anything like the boy who was singing now.

And then there was a light tapping noise, as if someone was tapping against the window pane trying to catch his attention. Kurogane glanced up at the apartment he was standing beside and his eyes widened in surprise.

Midnight black hair, past his shoulders, amber eyes more intense than Syaoran's; it was captivating, absolutely gorgeous for a boy. The seventeen year old boy stared at the orbs for seconds until they vanished behind a curtain. It was then that Kurogane returned to reality.

_Whoa_, he thought simply before walking off. _That guy has an amazing voice._

…

"Ashura, what're you looking at?" Fai asked as he shifted on the piano seat. Lazily the teenager craned his neck to stare at him.

"Oh, just this passerby. I must say, he was really cute." Ashura let out a sigh and plopped back down on the bed in the corner of the room. "You should go check him out someday, Fai-kun." Fai's eyes widened at the suggestive tone in Ashura's voice and let out a gasp.

"Y-You're kidding, right? I can't date another guy, that's just against my family rule!" Fai stammered as he stared down at the ivory keys of the piano trying to hide the growing pink stain on his cheeks. Ashura shrugged.

"Bleh, you and your straight ways. Look at me and Yasha; we're fine!" Fai rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Well that's because you pass as a girl." Brown eyes shot a look at the blue ones.

"I wouldn't be talking if I were you," he snapped before. Then he waved his hand in the air, pointing to the piano. "Those notes aren't going to play for themselves, you know." Fai muttered inaudible words under his breath before turning to face the piano again.

"Hmph." And then his pale fingers touched the smooth, pearl white keys once more, his bent fingers skillfully dancing across the rows of keys.

"I'm happy just to be with you," Fai sang, his thin pale lips opening and closing, forming the letters of each word. His voice rang in the silent room for a moment before his fingertips went down on the keys again. "Just to see you smile, so please take me to happiness…"

Ashura fell back against the mattress with a soft grunt, listening to Fai sing the whole time. His deeper and matured voice followed, creating a harmony that spun around and twisting together to form music that was so beautiful, it was practically considered as holy compared to others.

"A bird in a cage, a bird without wings…"

"A bird without a voice, a lonely bird."

"So please."

"Take me…"

"To happiness."

…

Kurogane had the words stuck in his head all the way back home. It was ridiculous, it was annoying, it was preposterous; yet it was beautiful in more ways than one. "Take me to happiness," he repeated aloud without knowing it himself as he reached the front door of his house. "There's no such thing as happiness; that person will have a hard time getting there." With a click he turned the golden knob of their house, just to be greeted with a panicking maid.

"Kurogane-sama!" Tomoyo shrieked when he walked in casually, kicking off his boots. The teenager began walking past the younger girl when a rough hand pulled him to the side. A hand came down against his cheek, slapping him roughly.

Two red eyes, similar to Kurogane's, were boring into the teenager's orbs, a snarl on his face. "What did I tell you about jumping out the window and running away like that?" The man's grip on the boy's arm tightened.

"None of your business. You're not my father." Kurogane pulled his arm away, shot a disgusted look at the man staring back and walked up the stairs to his room.

"Kurogane, get back here!" the man shouted, throwing his arms in the air as he heard a slam above them. "Damn boy." A thin woman with long flowing hair, the same colour as Kurogane's hair, walked up to the aggravated man and patted him softly on the back.

"Calm down. He's just a growing boy. You can't punish him for everything." The man shrugged her pale hand off with a huff.

"Yeah well you don't know what he's doing behind our backs," he spat back, eyes glowering. The woman sighed as she held her hands up to her chest.

"I may not know what he's doing out in the real world, but I know what he's doing here. He's my son, after all." Kurogane's mother turned to leave, walking into the living room to pick up a book Kurogane had dropped there earlier in the day.

The young teenager was in his room; math book opened to a random page on the lit desk, and was currently trying to solve the problems on the page without pencil or paper. But he gave up on the third equation when the song from earlier echoed in his mind once more. Sure, he didn't mind it that much but it was distracting him from his… The student paused for a moment and let out a sigh. _Admit it, Kurogane_, he thought to himself grumpily, _what you're doing is utterly insane. Just stop it and take a rest._

So the boy did so, throwing himself onto the silken covers of his bed. He let out a muffled groan as he tried flexing his tense muscles, shifting around in the bed to find a comfortable spot. After a moment of searching, grunting and more stressful groans, the teenager had managed to get entangled in the covers.

He tried sleeping like his conscience had told him too but the song he heard moments ago was still stuck in his head. Shaking his head wildly, Kurogane tried his best to get it out, but it remained, echoing in his half empty mind. With a frustrated cry the high school kid jumped out of bed, put on a pair of socks and threw the door open, stomping his way out of the room, down the stairs, through the hallways and finally to the kitchen.

Instead of sitting down on a chair and getting some uncooked pasta to chew on, he grabbed a carton of milk and chugged it down, some of the drink dripping down his chin. Kurogane paused to breath for a moment, wiping the milk off his chin. Throwing the carton out, the teenager leaned against the refrigerator with a bored look on his face. He had to admit, living in such a big house with a rich family was boring at times unless he was out in the streets.

Then the idea hit him. Properly standing up once more, he dashed for the front door, slipping on a pair of shoes and quietly stepped out of the house into the night.

…

_Ashura's asleep_, Fai thought happily as he closed the book of music for the final time that night. Pushing away the seat, he walked out of the small room, turning off the lights and closing the door. "Good night, Ashura."

The moment he reached his own bedroom, the blond turned around and made way to the small balcony that held the plants near the bathroom. His footsteps echoed in the silent hallways, sounds muffled by the carpeting on the floor. Once he reached the glass door, he slid it open and stepped outside of the balcony, welcoming the fresh air.

"Ah," he whispered to himself when he picked up a flower pot to place it in the corner of the balcony, "_il fiore e bello, no?"_ But after a few moments of silence in the dark, Fai found it rather boring and unentertaining. He was going to occupy himself with watering the plants, but then a figure suddenly darted from the alleyway, right across the balcony he was standing on.

By instinct the teenager dropped the watering can, pulled off a lid that was covering a staircase leading down to the sidewalk from the balcony, and began running down the stairs. The fact that he was only wearing socks didn't stop him as he began to chase after the figure making way for the other apartments connected to his own. Bumping into wires that held laundry or rats that were scampering around for food, Fai chased after the person in pure curiosity.

_A heck lot better than watering plants_, he thought, breathing heavily while running in the unlit streets.

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**And so chapitre one of _Alleys of Venice_ is finished. I'm not too proud of it myself, seeing that I got ridiculously bored at the end and just had to make Fai run after the 'shadowy figure'. I have just a few things to go over and… then you can just review. Or you can review and forget about what I have to say. … Or you can just leave and not review, but that's rather harsh.**

**Notes: Venezia, Napoli, all those are just city-state things in Italy. **

**_Biblioteca _is a library in Italian. Simply put. **

**When Syaoran calls Kurogane 'Cane', it's just a small nickname I named for him; literally means Dog. If you wanted to call him _the_ dog, you'd say _Il_ cane.**

**And also when Kurogane says that each of the spoon would be about three hundred _Euros_, it's just the currency in Italy. Euro constantly changes day to day – unless it just stays the same – so I don't know how much one Euro is to American money. But let's just say it's a dollar twenty.**

… **I just see so many balconies in the movies we have to watch for Italian class; so everyone shall have a balcony! Yay!**

**The song Fai and Ashura sing is from _Clover_. To understand it, you must pay close attention. Even I don't get it at times, but the words put together sound very nice.**

**At the end, Fai goes _"Ah, il fiore e bello"_ he's saying _"Ah, the flowers are beautiful." _I'm pretty sure that _fiore _is masculine, so the article would be masculine too. Is there a plural for _fiore_, or is it just like that? I don't know myself, so…**

**And there's the end of chapitre one. I hope there won't be as many notes as I have right now, but I only have a lot because I needed to sort stuff out. Good. Review, please!**

**-Muffinizer, paku. **


	2. Stella

_Alleys of Venice_

_Chapitre Two_

_Stella_

**And now it's time for the second chapitre of _Alleys_. I had to type something up even though I had nothing to write, really. So let this chapitre entertain you somewhat! … I get this feeling that my stories become less successful every time I update. Or maybe it's just me. Well, thanks to all who reviewed; the usual reviewers; but thanks anyway!**

**Note: This is actually rather 'important.' I'm describing the theatre this chapitre and I'm just telling you right now that it's going to be confusing. Even I had trouble writing it up. Y'see, if the main room of the theatre (the one with the seats) had two corridors, one to the south and east, then the storage room (the kitchen) is to the west. In the north is the entrance. Now the west room/kitchen is near the entrance, so anything that goes around in the north could be heard in the west and vice versa. It's a large room and the door to the west room/kitchen is near the northern entrance.**

**The east corridor stretches out a long way; think of it as a hallway of a one-floor school. It's really long and rather wide. So that stretches out to another part of the theatre (say where people rehearse?) where another room is there. It's like the sleeping quarters and bathrooms. The southern corridor leads to the balconies. There are stairs at the end of the corridor that lead up to the upper half of the theatre where the balconies are. You've seen those opera shows, right? The booth like things up at the top? Good. That's where the kids spend their day most of the time.**

**And boy, before I forget, this place is gonna have a _lot_ of windows. Windows in each balcony (behind the seats, of course) windows in the west room/kitchen, windows in the northern part of the theatre, windows in the eastern area where the sleeping quarters are, windows where the 'secret' attic is. – Sigh – If this is ever confusing to you, let me know. Maybe I'll revise it a bit.**

**Disclaimer: _Tsubasa_ isn't mine. Though I'd love to have Fai and Kurogane.**

**Summary: Venezia, Italy was filled with homeless kids back in the time, kids who couldn't afford food unless they would pick pocket. Thieves like those were shunned away from his life, and weren't in for it if seen during the day. So when Fai D. Flowright meets a teenager the same age as him who _helps_ those little pests, will he hate that person too?**

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Fai began panting after five minutes of blindly running in the dark, letting his curiosity chase after the mysterious figure just a few yards before him. Labored breaths filled the air until the blond decided to take a rest, leaning against the mossy brick walls around him. His head fell back with a light thud on the bricks.

_Boy, that guy runs fast_.

Then after a few seconds of rest, a question came up: why was he chasing after him anyway? Fai took a moment to think of an answer.

"Maybe because there's nothing better to do; or maybe it's because the person's _it_." Fai winced at the thought; back teeth grinding as he clenched his fist. "If the person is, I'll hurt them."

…

Kurogane let out a sigh of relief when he knew the pursuer had stopped to take a rest. Instead of jumping from the roof he hid on, the teenager eyed the dark, dead city of Venezia, trying to figure out where the others were sleeping.

_Red roof, vines, 'Stella Cinema'_… Kurogane frowned when the list of descriptions came to a sudden halt. _There's a pile of wooden stars right outside the door painted yellow and blue…_ His eyes locked onto an immense building only a few bridges across, vines decorating the dark bricks with its wide green leaves. _There we go_.

Jumping from the tiled roof, Kurogane dashed through the brick streets, underneath tunnels that connected one apartment to another, over the stone bridges that connected both sides of the canal. He took in a deep breath as the massive building slowly built up before his sight, the glittery stars just sitting in a pile right outside of the swampy green door. But he passed by the door, deeper in an alley beside the theatre, spotting a ladder that was attached to the brick wall. His smirk grew when he saw the slightly open window right above the ladder, the pale green curtains moving along with the night wind.

_Got ya_.

…

After pausing to think of a plan to capture that person – only if he or she was _it_ – Fai continued his journey after the figure. Yet when he came to a dead end, he frowned.

"That's odd," Fai muttered to himself. "We don't usually see dead ends often here." He glanced around just to make sure no one was looking; when he knew the coast was clear, he jumped onto one of the abandoned wooden crates in the corner of the wall stopping him from advancing, leaped forward just to catch the edge of the roof. Grasping onto it tightly, the blond pulled himself upward with a push of his foot, and threw his legs over the side.

"There we go," he said, crawling up higher and higher to the point of the roof. "Now I can see what's going on." Fai squinted, searching the horizon, just to find the silhouette of the figure he was chasing. He jumped up when he saw a shadow dart underneath a short tunnel and appeared again, dashing across a small bridge made there. "There he is!" And the moment Fai lifted his foot to climb down the side of the house away from the dead end, his slippers slid against the wet surface.

The blue eyes went wide for a moment, mouth open, and ready to scream, until his backside hit the sidewalk. Fai winced. "Ow."

…

He could've sworn someone was just behind him, but Kurogane shook the feeling off as he jumped through the window. The teenager coughed at the sudden dust rising up in the air as he realized that he fell on a dusty couch. Slowly he picked himself up from the pile of cushions and made way for the doorway, pushing the drape that was used as a door away from his face to reveal a small balcony that was high above rows and rows of velvet seats, all placed before a wide stage.

Kurogane smirked. "This brings back memories."

He heard some yells from the other side of the theatre, and then a kid, dressed in a fleece coat and ripped up pants, came out from another dark corridor that exited the room.

"Hey look, it's Kurogane-san!" he called out, pointing a bandaged finger at the teenager leaning against the railing of the balcony. Kurogane simply waved back at the kid with a grin.

"Oi, Tamaki, how many times have I told you not to shout in the building?" another gruff voice called out from another spot that Kurogane couldn't make out. A tall figure, just a bit taller than Kurogane himself, came out from underneath the balcony. All he could see was the mop of black hair the figure had.

"Go easy on them, Touya."

Said elder glanced upwards and laughed when he saw familiar red eyes stare back at him. "Kurogane, welcome back."

"Kurogane-sempai's here?" Syaoran shouted out randomly, running from the same corridor Tamaki came from, pushing him aside to get a better look. The kid smiled childishly, waving at the older. "What're you doing here, Kurogane-sempai?" Sakura walked up to him, letting out a rather ragged sigh of annoyance.

"He can come anytime he wants, Syaoran," she muttered, whacking the kid across the head with her palm. "Besides, he's the one who funds us with money." The chestnut haired boy frowned and rubbed his head sorely, glaring at Sakura in mock hatred.

"Hmph."

There were more soft footsteps before Kurogane decided to jump down from the balcony, so he waited to see who it was. Silver strands of hair fell across a pale face, a waif like body appearing right next to Touya's.

"Buona sera, Kurogane," the boy said, smiling at the teenager with bright eyes. "What brings you here tonight?" Kurogane shrugged in response, jumping down the balcony onto a pile of blankets underneath with a thump.

"Mother's fiancé yelled at me again after I helped Syaoran and Sakura get the spoons." Touya grunted after his explanation.

"No wonder the kids were so excited when they came back," he muttered, glaring at the two kids that were trying to look innocent at the moment. They gave a confused look at their elder, bottom lip sticking out to emphasize the point that they were purely innocent. Touya just rolled his eyes at them.

"Yukito-san," Kurogane started as he dusted his pants off with his hands, "do you mind if you get me some dinner? I'm hungry." The older with silver hair just nodded before turning around and disappearing into a room that was attached to the main theatre, which used to be a rather large storage room, humming a light random tune. Touya glanced behind to the west of him where he last saw the silver haired boy and cleared his throat.

"I'll go help him; he might burn the place down."

…

He tripped over a random rock on the street and fell on his knees again. The blond let out a hiss of pain and annoyance, kicking the rock away from him. Fai sighed once more before getting up and continuing his run. He thought it was pretty stupid, running around with no idea where you were going, only to chase after a random person on the street. Yet he had a weird hunch, something that practically forced him to turn after the figure. So he let his instincts take over for the past ten minutes. But now he thought it was time to think for a moment.

Fai hummed, tapping his foot against the street, trying to figure out where he last saw the person. _It had a red roof and vines…_

Glancing around the teenager couldn't find such a house. He walked deeper into the dark alley, kicking at a few shrubs growing and chasing away rats that walked up to him. Then he came to a stop when he saw the immense building come before him.

His jaw dropped for a moment, only because the run-down building was so large. Walking closer to the theatre, Fai reached out to touch the lively green vines that stretched out along the bricks. From the distance he heard a few shouts inside the building and jumped in surprise.

_There's someone in there?_

"Kurogane-sempai, look at the spoons! They're beautiful!" There was a confused look on the blond haired teenager's face for a few seconds, only before it changed to a surprised one when there was another shout.

"Tamaki-chan wants to see the spoons!" a kid yelled. And then there was more bickering and arguing; it seemed so interesting that Fai turned around the corner of the building and came up to the oak door. He tried turning the rusty knob of the door but it wouldn't budge; instead, the doorknob fell off.

"What the-?" Fai gasped as the metal doorknob rolled up to his foot. Pressing his palm against the oak door, Fai pushed with all his might to see if the door would open. Yet it stayed still, as if the blond didn't try opening it in the first place. He let out a huff of aggravation and kicked again, this time yelping in pain.

"Darn it door open up!" Yet the blond stopped after five kicks, realizing that someone, some_thing_ must've been watching him kick an inanimate object that had done particularly nothing to him. _Besides the fact that it wouldn't open_, Fai thought bitterly.

"Yukito, where's the water?" someone called out from the second floor, followed by another "Shh!" All fell silent while Fai struggled, trying to get the door open. When he gave up, the silence remained, giving the blond a chill down his spine.

_Odd… I could've sworn people were talking in there a few seconds ago._

…

Kurogane's hands were over both Syaoran's and Tamaki's mouths, silencing the talkative ones immediately when he heard a few indistinctive shouts from outside. He let out a low growl; how could anyone find out that someone lived here?

And then he knew. The person that was following him.

"Guys, stay still." He glared at Syaoran and continued. "Especially you, Syaoran."

With that, the teenager ran out of the big room they used as their kitchen, grabbing a slice of bread and stuffing it in his mouth. He ran up to the front entrance of the theatre which was close to the 'kitchen' he was at a few seconds ago. Staring through the small peephole of the door, his breath hitched when he saw a mop of blond hair walking to and fro in front of him with a very annoyed look on his face.

_It's the blond kid._

Slowly he backed away from the door and made way through the east corridor, climbing through a trap door that only he and Touya knew of. Hoisting himself up onto the dusty floor of the attic of the theatre, he coughed, waving his hand in front of his face to get rid of any flying dust, and neared the window.

Pulling it open, the teenager climbed through the window and fell onto the sidewalk beneath him with a light thud. He glanced around, making sure that the blond had not heard him, and made way west again, where the blond was impatiently trying to find a way into the theatre. He smirked at the blond, thinking that he was truly an idiot; you only had to have half a brain to realize that there was an open window with a ladder sticking out of it right next to the door. Apparently, that head of his was probably filled with hot air.

With a grunt Kurogane picked up a few pebbles off the path and chucked it where the blond was. Immediately he perked up, letting out a gasp when the rock rolled near his foot. _Bingo_, Kurogane smirked as he threw another one, trying to catch the kid's attention. _As long as he doesn't get in…_

"I think someone's here…" Syaoran whispered from inside. Kurogane let out an inaudible groan. The idiot was ruining the plan, and Kurogane didn't like that. The blond seemed to have sharp ears since he picked up what Syaoran said in the room he was standing near. Once the blond put an ear against the brick wall, Kurogane decided to throw another rock.

This, though he really didn't intend to, hit him in the head.

…

Fai snapped his eyes open the moment something hard knocked against his temple. Groaning, a pale hand shot up to massage the bruised area, hissing in pain. He looked around, trying to spot the lunatic that pegged him in the head. _Probably another one of those things._

"What was that? I heard a groan outside," a girl muttered. As Fai stumbled to the side, he tripped over another pebble that was right beside his foot, cursing under his breath as his backside hit the floor again.

_Today is definitely not my day._

And mysteriously another rock flew towards his direction but missed totally. Fai frowned. Where were the rocks coming from?

"Fai!" someone shouted from the shadows of the alleys that stretched up to the theatre's entrance, running up to the blond, panting heavily. "Fai, are you there?"

The blond recognized the voice and turned red in embarrassment. "A-Ashura?"

The pale face and amber eyes appeared before Fai, with the flowing hair and cloak, not to mention a very concerned face. Ashura's eyebrows formed a frown and his eyes told him all. "Fai, where _were_ you? I saw you run off before but I didn't know where!" Then he realized where they were and scrunched his nose in disgust. "Why are you at such an old theatre? If you wanted to see a movie, go to the other one near the house. Jeez."

Fai stammered for a bit, trying to find an excuse. "I think I found one of _them_." One of Ashura's eyebrows went up in amusement.

"One of _them_? You mean those pathetic, annoying pocket-pickers?" The blond nodded energetically, still massaging his temple. Ashura scoffed. "Please. The darkness is playing tricks on your eyes, Fai. And most of those orphans are taken to the nursery back in town. Now _avanti_. We have school tomorrow."

The teenager let out an exasperated sigh. "But Ashura, I'm serious! I found one; he was running around the streets when I was outside and he had the skills of a thief!" Ashura too let out a sigh, whacking the blond upside the head in annoyance.

"_Basta_, Fai. Let's go."

…

Kurogane frowned. Apparently the kid was brighter than he thought, but not the sharpest pencil out there. He wasn't an orphan; his beige double-breasted coat gave it away. And the Nova Burberry hat he was wearing wasn't really considered 'low-class.' So maybe he did have a brain, if not a fourth of one, to realize that he steals.

And that guy.

He knew from the moment he saw the locks of black hair that it was who he saw from before. The guy who had that beautiful voice. The guy with intense amber eyes. He just couldn't take his own eyes off of him.

That was when he heard a few shouts from the attic above in the east corridor. Kurogane let out a gasp as the blond and black haired teenagers stared his way. With the sudden nervousness on his shoulders, Kurogane turned tail and sprinted, skidding to a stop when he saw the cloth he left out hanging from the window. Touya's face popped out from the curtained window and shouted,

"Bastard, get back in here! The people are-!"

Kurogane had to take off his shoes and throw it at Touya's face to shut him up. He gave him a silent "I know."

Before the two could figure out what was happening, Kurogane jumped up and grabbed the white cloth dangling out there and pressed the tip of his feet against the brick wall, climbing up quickly. He let out a breath he held in the moment his foot touched the carpeted floor of the room.

"Never do that again, Kurogane!" Touya scolded as he closed the window shut with a snap. He yanked the cloth out and undid the knots, glaring at the teenager. "If Sakura didn't tell us the blond was there, we would have been kicked back into the orphanage! You know Tamaki can't live there again."

His ruby eyes glanced down at the carpet as Touya continuously yelled at him. There was a creak behind Touya and Yukito showed up with a rather confused look on his face. Kurogane returned the look, surprised that Yukito knew the room was here.

"Well, are they gone?" The oldest of the three shook his head and made way back to the small entrance they came through.

"No. Right now go hide. And Kurogane," Touya turned his head to glance back at the teenager with a smirk, "you didn't have to nail the blond in the head with a pebble. Just chase him off with your shadows next time."

Kurogane gave him a sheepish look, scratching the nape of his neck while laughing nervously. "Ah, _mi dispiace_, Touya."

…

The blond jumped up and down ecstatically, pointing at the narrow sidewalk down to the east. "_Guarda, guarda_! There was a guy there, right?" Ashura just rolled his eyes again and shrugged.

"I don't know, Fai. The dark's playing tricks; just ignore it." But the blond pouted.

"I'm serious, he was right there!"

Ashura had to knock out Fai in order to bring him peacefully back to the apartments.

_That's it,_ Ashura thought to himself as he glanced at the sleeping face of Fai, _I can't let you out past nine anymore._

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**Oh boy that was really bad. I didn't know it would be so… so like this. I guess this is what you get when you have writer's block. – Falls on face – But… But that's pretty lame; writer's block on the second chapitre? Then again, I got stuck in the middle. I didn't know how to make the transitions go smoothly, y'know?**

**Well, I hope this chapitre wasn't too confusing (_too_ confusing) for you guys. Let's go over some vocabulary…**

**One: _Stella Cinema_ literally translates to _Star Theatre_. I had to steal the name from _The Thief Lord _(Ahaha… ;;) Don't blame me; Stella is an awesome name.**

**Two: Avanti means 'Let's go.' Basta means 'That's enough.' Guarda means 'Look.' **

**Three: Mi dispiace is a saying that just says 'I'm sorry.' Yeah.**

**I guess I had fun with this chapitre, though it only told what the whole theatre was like. Hmm. I guess chapitre three will have more stuff. Oh, I know. They're going to school tomorrow, Fai, Kurogane and Ashura. Same with the rest of the crew (excluding Touya and Yukito) so I hope you look forward to the next chapitre too.**

**Thanks for reading. (And if you have time, please stop by and hit that purple button right there to submit a review. Yup. No pressure.)**

… **Pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure…**

**-Muffinizer, nya**


	3. Scuola

_Alleys of Venice_

_Chapitre Three_

_Interaction_

**And now here's the third chapitre. It took a while because I had the holiday special so… yeah. Heh. Sorry if it kinda sucks. This is, probably, going to be stretched out into two chapitres. So this'll be rather short.**

**Note: They go to school. Huzzah. Fai and Kurogane are in high school (sophomore), Syaoran and Sakura are in middle school (eighth, seventh in that respective order), Touya and Yukito graduated, and Tamaki is in elementary (third). That'll be pretty much it for now. Oh! Ashura is in high school (senior) and so is Yasha (senior). I'm actually putting Yasha in…**

**Disclaimer: Nope, _Tsubasa_ belongs to CLAMP thank you very much.**

**Summary: Venezia, Italy was filled with homeless kids back in the time, kids who couldn't afford food unless they would pick pocket. Thieves like those were shunned away from his life, and weren't in for it if seen during the day. So when Fai D. Flowright meets a teenager the same age as him who _helps_ those little pests, will he hate that person too?**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Kurogane, where's your homework?" the slim teacher with her long hair braided back behind her back asked, hitting the edge of her ruler against her palm. The red eyes looked up slowly at the teacher, showing no interest whatsoever.

"Huh?"

There were a couple of snickers in the back and Kurogane turned around to shoot them a look. They immediately shut up for they were afraid of the venomous glare he sent them.

It was the morning after that blond found the theatre after following him. It was the morning when Yukito and Touya went out to sell the spoons he stole. It was the morning when he was about to be beaten up by his history teacher.

"Look, Signora Gallo, I swear I had it last night. I just…" Kurogane paused; he couldn't tell her that he was stuck in the theatre for the whole night, trying to figure out what to do if the blond returned. "Um… My homework fell into the canal…?"

Signora Gallo snorted, whacking his desk with the ruler. "Enough bull, Kurogane," she snapped and at the same time, the ruler snapped as well. "This is your fourth missed homework this week. I think you need a detention to get your act straight." With that, the history teacher picked up the two pieces of the wooden ruler and chucked it out an open window, scoffing.

All eyes went straight to Kurogane, and immediately there was a sea of 'ooh'. He let his head fall onto the desk with a grunt. Now, he knew that a glare couldn't get those idiots to shut up.

…

"I'm sure you were busy helping out with the library yesterday, Fai, but that doesn't mean you could just fall asleep during class!" a short, plump woman scolded lightly, clapping her hands together. "Please, try to stay awake. Mid terms are coming soon and I don't want anyone to fail."

Groggily eyes glanced up to stare at the round teacher and Fai let out a groan. "But… Signora Ricci, I went to sleep so late last night…" he muttered, covering his eyes with his hands as he sat up in his chair. The teacher sighed.

"I'm sorry, Fai, but you know how Signore Bianchi hates children falling asleep d-."

There was a shout from the hallway and a man in his middle ages, grey hair with a messed up tie and suit stomped into the room, suitcase falling apart. "Fai D. Flowright, were you falling asleep again?" he roared, slamming his suitcase onto his desk. He turned to the plump woman who had a frightened look on her face. "Signora Ricci, you can go now." Immediately the woman left the room.

"Fai D. Flowright," he began again, pointing an accusing finger at the blond, "this is the fifth time you fell asleep this month. Outside into the hallway now!"

Everyone around him laughed and let out an ooh, watching the half awake blond stumble outside into the quiet hallway.

Well, it _was_ quiet.

…

Kurogane 'accidentally' punched a kid straight in the face to shut him up because he was laughing so hard at the fact he had detention. Then a jock began making fun of him, which earned him a kick in the shin. This, of course, was 'accidental' too.

That's what he was trying to tell Signora Gallo as she chased him out of the room, yelling in Italian, letting out a string of curses.

"You pain in the-!" Signora Gallo couldn't finish her sentence when Kurogane took a student's bag and chucked it at her. This angered her even more and made her take a broom that was resting against a window sill and start whacking Kurogane with it. Inside, Kurogane was yelling 'Child abuse, child abuse!'

Of course, those thoughts weren't heard when another shout came from down the east corridor. Kurogane went that way, hoping that a teacher would save him from this maniac, but instead ended up with what he hoped not to see for his entire life.

_Him._

The blond was on his knees, hands up in the air, head down and eyes glaring into the floor. A male teacher was yelling off at him, stomping his foot on the tiled floor in anger. Okay, so maybe he wasn't going to seek help from him.

Just when he was about to turn around and run back, Signora Gallo came up, swept him off his feet with the edge of her broom, and sent him skidding down the hallway up to the blond.

"God _damn it_!" Kurogane yelled as the blond and he knocked heads. The blond let out a groan and pushed away, accidentally slapping Kurogane on the face.

"What was that for?" he snapped, and for the first time, Kurogane actually took the moment to listen to the voice. At least it wasn't the deep, annoying one of Signora Gallo.

In an instant, Kurogane grabbed the blond by the wrist tightly and pulled him off, dashing away with him trailing behind before the teachers could say anything. He sprinted, sprinted for his life as the blond continuously told him to stop running. Yet he didn't listen. Why would he? He was trying to save his behind – and the blond kid's – from the two teachers that needed anger management.

"If you want to get your ass whooped from them, then be my guest!" With that he let go of the blond from the wrist and ran off himself.

"W-Wait!" Fai called out, scrambling up as he heard the heavy footsteps and shouting from behind. "Don't leave without me!"

…

There were shouts coming from the blank hallways around the morning, and Ashura and Yasha were wondering what was going on. Just when the two were about to turn the corner, hand in hand, a blond and a raven ran straight into them, knocking to two down onto their backsides.

"Oh crap," Ashura snapped, rubbing his back in pain, "what the hell was that?" Yasha, the one taller, shorter hair and amber eyes similar to his, prodded him in the side to shut him up. Ashura let out a yelp.

"Ashura?"

"Senpai?"

Four amber eyes, two crimson and two cobalt eyes glanced back and forth in confusion.

_What's Ashura doing here?_

_Yasha-senpai?_

_Fai-Fai's running around in the hallways with this random person? What the hell?_

… _Does Ashura know these people?_

"Fai, what're you doing cutting class?" Ashura asked with an odd look on his face, still glancing back and forth at the blond and raven. The blond opened his mouth to speak, but Kurogane beat him to it. Pointing at the taller amber eyed senior, he began talking.

"Senpai, those two teachers over there are going crazy; Gallo is trying to whoop my ass with some broom!" he yelled out. "Isn't that like, student abuse?"

Ashura turned to face the teenager beside him. "… Yasha-kun, you know him?" Said boy nodded simply and gave Kurogane a skeptical look.

"Did you drop your homework into the canal again?" he asked with a tint of sarcasm and a smirk with it. All he did was roll his crimson eyes at the older student. Kurogane let out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair. And then it hit him. Hard. He glanced at Ashura when sudden memories from a few days ago washed over him.

The person singing.

Those amber eyes.

That beautiful hair.

He would've yelled out and say "Your voice is amazing!" but he kept his mouth shut, afraid that he would look like some total idiot if he accidentally mistook him for the guy back then. Ashura cocked his eyebrow, amber eyes looking him up and down.

"Hey, you're the one I saw through the window the other day."

All eyes were suddenly on Kurogane, and just then he felt a pang of nervousness. Yet a few seconds later, he found his chance to escape when the teachers ran into the four, cursing off and waving whatever they had in their hands at them. He was the first to take off with Fai making his way to the bathrooms right after, giving Ashura a rather stern look.

Yasha opened his mouth to speak, but the teachers suddenly ran in between him and Ashura, pushing the taller of the two against the wall as they charged for the raven and blond.

"That was…"

"Very odd."

…

"Dear God," Fai panted out, leaning against the tiled walls with a sigh, "that teacher is crazy." As soon as his breathing evened out, he looked back into the small event that happened just a few seconds ago. "Hmm…" He immediately went back to the raven haired boy with the 'deadly' red eyes. Fai knew he saw those eyes somewhere, yet he couldn't pinpoint exactly when or where he did.

"I know I saw him before," he exclaimed, smacking his fist against the open palm of his right hand, huffing. "And I'm going to prove it too."

…

Accidentally he tripped over his shoelace when sprinting down the hallway at mach ten. Kurogane fell face first and let out a yelp, reaching out to the open air in order to grab something that was floating out there. The raven groaned, cradling his head with a big hand and massaging his bruised left cheek in pain.

_That's going to hurt in the morning_, he thought sourly as he got up from his seat, dusting off any dirt from the black pants he was wearing. _And that blond…_

He shivered, not wanting to remember anything related to that blond klutz at all. But then there was the amber eyed boy. Kurogane could've felt his face flush which was, apparently, the first time that had ever happened; besides the fact that a few years ago, when Syaoran and him were walking through the theatre to the bathroom to find a few towels, they accidentally spotted a bare Sakura looking around the bathroom for soap. Inwardly the teenager twitched. What happened next was really not the type of thing he wanted to remember, since the next day he woke up, Syaoran and him were cramped up in the bathroom closet, with the damp towel, with a sign that read "Here's the damn towel."

"The amber eyed boy was with Yasha-senpai," Kurogane noted, realization dawning over him. "Maybe he and Senpai are having some secret affair behind everyone's back?" He gasped at that. Yasha, known as 'Yasha-ou' in their school, had two fan clubs – girls' and boys' – ever since he was a freshman; if anyone figured out that he was having some affair with that senior, the fan clubs would either break apart, try to get Yasha-ou back, or perhaps even hurt the other amber eyed teenager to get him back. Or perhaps, Kurogane thought with a rather disgusted look on his face, all of the three.

…

"Today," Tamaki announced, reaching into the green backpack slung over his shoulders, "I brought my little bunny, Popo-chan!" The entire third grade class let out gasps and murmurs, hoping that the bunny he brought would be a real and adorable one.

It was a Thursday. Tamaki had Show-And-Tell on Thursdays, so he decided to bring his bunny to school to show off to everyone.

But then again, the bunny was what Sakura had made on her free time last year.

"This is Popo-chan!" he exclaimed, holding out a raggedy old bunny doll, a light pink with a small button nose and round pebble black eyes. Then the third grade stared at the doll in his hands and frowned.

"But that's not a real bunny."

"It looks really old…"

"My bunny doll is so much better!"

Tamaki whimpered at this, holding the bunny close to his chest. "B-But my sorella made this doll herself without only a few Euro to spend!" The third grade teacher laughed and petted the boy on the head, ruffling the dirty blond locks that were slightly curled.

"Very beautiful; tell your sorella that this bunny is absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for sharing with us, Tamaki." The small blond nodded, grinning at the brunette teacher with a wide smile plastered on his pale face.

…

"Psst, Syaoran," a boy with blue-black hair whispered, poking the boy in the ribs with his Number Two pencil. Said brunet let out a yelp and jumped up in his seat, swatting the boy's pencil away without the teacher seeing them doing whatever.

"Eriol, what the heck?" he whispered harshly, sending him a death glare and holding up a fist in front of his face. "Signor is going to kill us if we make any noise so just leave me-!"

"Li Syaoran, what's wrong with you? Why are you talking during class?"

Immediately Eriol dropped his pencil and snickered, holding the History book up to cover his red face. Syaoran's lower jaw dropped, leaving him looking like a fish gasping for water.

"B-But Signor, I didn't do anything this time, I swear!"

"Perhaps you've already looked ahead into the book and know what this section is about. Care to tell us what section three tells us, Li?"

Before opening his mouth to speak again, he sent the giggling Eriol the best glare he could muster, nudging him in the elbow, making him jump up and yell out loud.

"Hiiragizawa, would you like to help Li too?"

Eriol paled.

"Uhh…"

This time, Syaoran snickered behind his hand.

…

Sakura let her head fall forward, her forehead touching the pages of her open book. She exhaled and inhaled again, repeating it over and over again before her friend began shaking her arm.

"S-Sakura."

"Mmm…" she groaned, trying to shrug her hand off of her shoulder.

"Sakura!"

"Leave me alone, Natalie…"

There was impatient tapping against the cheap wooden desk that Sakura's auburn hair was sprayed on, and groggily emerald eyes shot up to stare at the man hovering over her sleeping form. She gasped and immediately sat up straight in her seat, staring at the dark green unadorned skirt she wore that matched her black blouse.

"I-I'm sorry," she stuttered aloud, disgusted in the tint of nervousness found beneath her tone. _Not really though_, Sakura thought to herself with a slight frown. The teacher fixed his plain black tie before staring at Sakura again.

"You've been sleeping for about five minutes straight, _Kinomoto_. You're lucky that Natalie here woke you up or else you would've had yet another detention."

There were several whispers from behind them and the teacher gave them a look, silencing them. He turned his attention back to the student.

"So," he started, turning her back and making his way for the dirty chalkboard, "another detention with me or would you rather be with the mop, walking about the second floor with the bucket?"

_Why can't he just say 'clean the rooms'?_ Sakura groaned inwardly, combing her fingers through her messy strands of hair.

"Mopping up the second floor," she muttered, slouching in her seat again and ignored her friend's stare.

_Better than being with that bastard_.

…

The bell rang and Syaoran made way for the door, just when the teacher said, "Arrivederci, classe."

With Eriol not too far behind, the athletic boy sprinted down the hallway, making a beeline to the one classroom at the very end, past the old green lockers. He skidded to a stop and, in one swift movement, threw the door open. Syaoran ran inside, stopping before a desk and slamming his palm against the wooden surface.

The auburn haired girl immediately jumped from her seat, staring up at his amber eyes in surprise.

"Syaoran-teme?"

Said chestnut haired boy frowned at the silly nickname – and offensive to him – that Sakura just made up that moment. "Look, henna-choko-."

Sakura gasped at that. "I'm not a wimp, idiot!" Syaoran rolled his eyes and told her to calm down, motioning her to sit back down. He gave her a stern look when she simply stuck her tongue out and gave him a rude gesture; when she didn't sit, he pushed her down by the shoulders onto the wooden chair.

Leaning over the desk, he whispered in his ear,

"Look, I heard that the high school band is coming to our school to play some sort of concert. We'll sneak into the auditorium and snatch Kurogane-senpai away, got it?" Syaoran looked at her intensely, as if saying that his life depended on the simple 'mission' of theirs. "Besides," he began again, making sure no one was looking, "it's just for a few minutes. We'll go outside and discuss about what we're going to steal next and-."

The bell rang, which left Syaoran frowning as Sakura pushed his body away from hers. "Personal space, much?" she spat. The older of the two groaned and turned on his heel, making way for the door as a teacher stepped in and blocked him from going out.

"Who're you?"

"Uhh…"

_Damn, why do I keep getting caught today?_

…

Fai slowly made his way for the gymnasium, walking into the lockers so on one could see. "I have gym next anyway," he told himself in a hushed whisper as he began glancing back and forth at the multiple lockers, "so I can just get into class quickly…" As he sat on the wooden bench in one of the locker aisles, he thought about the raven haired boy that he bumped into before that saved his butt.

_I know he's from somewhere… Just where did I see him?_ Fai thought hard about that, almost to the point where his head felt like a hot air balloon that was about to pop. _Screw_, he sighed inwardly, kicking his legs in the air, _I'll just have to ask him if he's the one I saw earlier._

When he thought back to the three days before the incident when he got knocked out by Ashura in the night, he remembered that he was chasing someone deep into an alley up to a theatre. Fai frowned and scratched his head, banging the palm of his hand against his forehead. _Who was it?_

The bell rang, but because the boy was deep in thought, he didn't hear the door swing open.

"Man, did you hear the screaming upstairs?"

"Yeah I heard. I bet it was Kurogane getting chased by Gallo again."

"I feel bad for the guy; last time I heard Gallo smacked him across the face with a ruler!"

"Aww, he can take that. If he can survive kick boxing in gym without getting hurt once, he sure can live through a whack."

"I don't know. The guy seems like he softened up a bit after his trip."

"Kurogane and 'soft' just don't mix, okay? If something happened, it was probably with his family or whatever. Drop the topic, got it?"

"Fine, fine – but really, maybe he's seeing a girl?"

"Bastard, shut up!"

"Oh shit, Kurogane?"

"I'm not seeing a girl, idiot; I hate girls. Get that straight, got it?"

"Sorry, dude. I didn't know you were there."

"Feh."

Fai suddenly tensed up when he saw a group of boys walk into the locker room. His blue eyes immediately locked onto the boy in front of them.

The one with red eyes.

"You…" the two of them said simultaneously. "You!"

Kurogane turned on his heel and dashed outside the swinging doors, sharply making a turn into the gymnasium. He ran up to the teacher, panting, stammering something about 'no clothes' and 'forget gym.'

_Damn_, Kurogane cursed, _it's that guy._

…

The boys that were gathered in the locker parted to let Fai zoom past them.

"You don't think they're…"

"An affair?"

"No way!"

"The only two I think would have an affair would probably be Yasha-senpai and that Ashura guy."

"… Very true."

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**Why did that feel so unorganized? It just felt so… broken apart. I think it was because I forgot to mention that the periods ended? Oh, I don't know. Either way, I failed this one.**

**I realized that in my other chapitre, I said 'Avanti' instead of 'Andiamo'. 'Andiamo' means 'let's go'… So yeah.**

**Sorella: sister. Arrivederci: Good-bye (which in some ways is informal; teachers would say that to students as students would say 'Arrivadella' I think.) Classe: Class.**

**Kurogane and Fai abuse… oh boy. I just thought it'd be funny to see that. :D Anyway, I finally got up chapitre three (I'm too lazy) and since I'm busy with midterms, it'll be a while before I update again.**

**Until then…**

**-Muffinizer… is getting ready for midterms. **


	4. Gelato

_Alleys of Venice_

_Chapitre Four_

_Gelato_

**Thus begins the fourth chapitre of _Alleys_! – Does mini victory dance – So, this is… so far a very successful story! Well, at least I think so. I'm not as great as all those other authors/authoresses, but at least my story got some reviews. – Is in a very happy mood today – So before the notes and stuff kick in, I wanna thank _Musa Rox_ and _bloodytwistedangel_; two reviewers who typed up the best reviews I've ever seen in my life. :X**

**Note: Again, this is in school, but somewhat… from lunch to the afternoon. Yes, I know that in Italy, kids go home to eat their lunches, but in this case, let them stay in school! I also realized that using Japanese honorifics in an Italian school was rather awkward but… Italy doesn't have that kinda stuff; I think. So forgive me if it sounds odd if someone says "Yasha-ou" or "Fai-kun" or anything like that. ;;**

**Another Note: Is it just me or do _Naruto_ stories update so fscking fast that no one even gets to review for your story? – Sigh – I'm so depressed because I don't have any reviews; only 26 hits which is rather sad. ;;**

**Disclaimer: _Tsubasa _belongs to CLAMP. I wanna read Ashura's part in the manga, but the MSN group doesn't have it up yet. – Sigh – Oh well.**

**Summary: Venezia, Italy was filled with homeless kids back in the time, kids who couldn't afford food unless they would pick pocket. Thieves like those were shunned away from his life, and weren't in for it if seen during the day. So when Fai D. Flowright meets a teenager the same age as him who _helps_ those little pests, will he hate that person too?**

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The last time he saw the red eyed boy was during physical education and, soon he found out what the boy's name was. Kurogane. Fai gave a proud smile as if he accomplished something important and big. But to the blond finding out a person's name meant a lot, since he only knew a few people in the school.

_The more hellos I can say in a day_, he thought to himself happily, taking out a water bottle as he sat down on one of the seats of the lunchroom. _But I still don't know if that's him. Maybe a brother?_

Fai let out a sigh and began twiddling his thumbs, concentrating once more. If he couldn't find out whom that thief was, his head would explode from thinking too much.

"Fai-Fai!"

His blue eyes snapped open and glanced to the left; he smiled when he saw Ashura cheerfully waving at him, running up to the table he was at. "Fai-Fai, you look all alone," he stated, sitting down next to him with a small frown. "You don't mind if Yasha and I sit-?"

"Yasha-ou!"

The two of them scanned the room to check where the shout was from, and soon they spotted at least thirty girls swarming around a certain person. His head could be seen above the crowd, and his flowing hair was easy to pick up too.

"Not as flowing as mine," Ashura once stated with a flip of his hair, grinning to himself.

As the two realized that Yasha was having trouble trying to get through the sea of fanatics, Ashura stood up and began waving his hand in the air, trying to catch his attention. "Yasha-kun!"

Then the two felt glares – most of the angry stares from the fan girls – like they did almost everyday, but Yasha was grateful for it. At least he didn't have to live up to the constant squealing. Ashura pushed himself off of the seat and began skipping towards the 'Prince', pushing and shoving as each girl tried to block him off from him. After a few tries, he managed to attach himself to Yasha's extended arm, smiling.

"Back off, girls; Yasha-ou needs to go eat and live, y'know."

The girls grumbled and muttered under their breath, casting glares at the grinning couple behind them.

"Hmph."

"That Ashura guy really gets on my nerves sometimes."

The two walked back to where Fai was busy attacking a sandwich that he made for himself. According to Fai, the sandwich was 'running away from him' when he took out his plastic knife to cut it in half. That was when Ashura knew he had to cut Fai off from the Snapple. "Fai," Yasha started, sitting across from Ashura. "Are you sure you're not imagining things?"

Fai shook his head and gave a lopsided grin. "Nah, I'm perfectly fine!"

_I beg to differ, _Ashura thought to himself. _A few days ago he was chasing this stray dog that was running through the alleys and he claims that it was an 'it'._

"Really?" Ashura asked as he raised his voice up in suspicion. "So you don't mind if I tell Yasha-kun here what happened when you were blindly chasing around some little pickpocket the other night?"

Yasha blinked confusedly, staring at the squirming blond. "You were chasing one of those kids again? C'mon Fai, let's get this straight. These kids need to steal to survive, and if you stop them they'll die."

The blond scrunched his nose in distaste. "Well but-."

"Run, Fermata!" a boy laughed as the doors swung open with a crash.

All heads turned to glance at the swarm of people suddenly rushing into the room, indistinctive shouts not too far away. Fai's eyes widened when he spotted the boy with red eyes. He was enraged and had a vicious look of murder in his eyes. The poor boy that was trying to flee from him was sweating, trying to dodge all blows at all costs.

"That's it, Fermata! You're going down!" the boy, Kurogane, barked lunging forward and tackling the boy down onto the carpeted lunchroom floor, and instantly they began kicking and punching at each other.

"_Basta, basta!_" a lunch lady shouted, waving her hands and shouting at the two kids rolling across the floor, hands tangled in each other's hair. "_Basta, ragazzi! Siedete!"_

In the midst of their fight, Kurogane had managed to punch him in the jaw, causing him to fall out in a daze momentarily. Hastily he got up, wiping some droplets of blood off his cheeks and sent the woman a death glare. However she stared back, banging the spoon she used to stir the sauce for the penne pasta.

All eyes were on them now, no eyes glaring at Ashura and Fai, muttering words under their breath about how violent some kids were nowadays. Kurogane just had to peek over his shoulder to shut them up, and smirked when he realized that he succeeded almost instantly.

"What is going on in here?" another lady yelled as she entered the room, examining the bloody kid and the one standing above him. "Kurogane! You're fighting kids again?" Everyone winced at the word 'again', noting that they shouldn't get the Kurogane kid angry anymore. She walked to him and smacked him upside the head, making him falter to one side a few steps. Kurogane growled deep in his throat, his bloody red eyes full of annoyance.

"I'm serious," the woman threatened, leaning so her mouth was right beside his ear, "if I catch you fighting with yet another student, you'll be expelled from his school like you were with the other one."

"Wait, I bet he has a reason for hunting the kid down."

_I bet he's the type who gets into fights a lot. If he gets caught, he'll leave. Not so fast though._

Fai stood up from the seat he was sitting on and smoothed his dark pants down a bit. He glanced over his shoulder before turning, staring at the woman with such kind, happy eyes. "I bet this boy agitated him to no end for him to act like that. If I were him, I would do the same." The woman gave him a look, scrutinizing him with such sharp eyes; but Fai didn't squirm and kept his gaze, chin up and smile crooked.

Kurogane glanced at the teacher and then at Fai. Then he glanced at Ashura who was sitting in the background cheering Fai on, and Yasha who was trying to calm his lover down. He stared at Fai's aqua eyes and sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

"Whatever," he muttered before completely ignoring the woman who was still enraged. Walking up to Fai, he reached out to grab his arm and succeeded in pulling him away from the stares they were receiving from everyone. The blond, being the kind that wasn't really aggressive, let the raven do whatever he wanted.

As they reached the other exit of the lunchroom, Kurogane pushed him out the door with a simple shove, not glancing back to see if any students were following. Yet, of course, everyone was crowding at the door where the two left, trying to see what was happening.

And then without a second thought, Kurogane roughly shoved Fai against the white wall, pressing his body against his with one of the scariest and murderous looks he could muster. But to his surprise and disappointment, the blond was still smiling at him with that idiotic grin of his. Trapping him between his arms, Kurogane leaned forward so his face was right before his. Fai just cocked his head at him, smirk permanent and lingering.

"You know," he drawled, cobalt eyes sparkling in what seemed like mischief, "people will kinda get the wrong idea when we're in this position."

There were giggles from the door and Kurogane snapped, pushing himself away from the blond with a hard look on his face. "That's not the problem!" the raven pointed out, poking the lithe teen before him in the ribs. "My problem is that-."

Just as he wanted to discuss about the previous night, the bell rang, signaling that the lunch period was over. He cursed under his breath, glaring at the floor to release his stress. After a moment of silence, Kurogane stared at him again and whispered,

"Meet me outside near the canal that branches off near Renato's gelato shop. Be there, or maybe I'll do another round of stealing near your house."

It was clear that Fai winced, since he visibly twitched right before his gleaming eyes. Kurogane chuckled darkly before turning and dashing away to his locker, trying to avoid the student he beat up and the teacher that slapped his before.

"Then he really is…"

Fai lost his cool exterior and collapsed onto the floor, shaking momentarily.

_I let a filthy creature like him so close…_

…

Slinging the leather bag over his shoulder by the strap, Kurogane slammed his navy green locker shut with a groan. His plan to beat the life out of the blond and ask him to spill any information he had failed and he didn't like that. Ignoring the calls from his friends down the hallway, Kurogane made way for the stairs that led to the first floor, literally kicking the doors open with his foot. Realizing that he truly was angry, his friends stopped calling him and retreated, making their way home by themselves.

As he walked down the stairs, Kurogane thought about the situation he was in now. He had two choices; one, like he thought before: beat him up and tell him to give up information, or two, slowly lure him into giving information as if he didn't really desperately need to know if he still remembered about previous nights ago.

Sadly, Kurogane wasn't the type who succeeded in acting.

_Oh boy,_ he thought with a groan. _This won't be easy._

…

Fai, being the innocent and trustworthy person he was, decided to keep the forced promise – and threat, he thought – he made with Kurogane earlier in the day. He began whistling and mindlessly kicked at the pebbles scattered on the floor. Just as he swung his leg, a rather humorous yet painful memory came back to him.

That time when he was following 'it' – he was a hundred percent sure that it was that Kurogane guy now – he had been knocked unconscious when someone threw a stone at him. He swore that he heard a chuckle from the person who threw it, and it wasn't really a feminine giggle.

"Yo."

Fai whipped his head around in surprise, and the usual grin kicked into place as he saw Kurogane leaning against the brick wall of the gelato shop, backpack hanging loosely off his shoulder.

_He looks like a total bully like that_, Fai joked inwardly and at that he felt his smile widen.

"So I came as you promised. What did you want to ask me?"

He kept such a straight look on his face that Kurogane swore he was wearing some type of mask. The raven frowned for a brief second and stood up straight, pushing down his shirt that rose above his stomach when he leaned against the wall. He walked up to the blond and gave him a look that told Fai that he didn't trust him at all, and that if something went wrong, he'd have to hurt him.

"So," Kurogane muttered in a deep voice, still glancing up and down his lanky body, "how exactly do you know-?"

"About the fact that you go around with two children stealing objects from people's houses? Oh, you remember that I was the one who saw you that time, right?" Fai asked, straightforward, eyebrows rising slightly. Kurogane faltered again, grunting as he nailed the subject right down.

"Err, yeah."

_Damn, _he thought, cursing, _I shouldn't be stammering! He should be!_

"It's almost like me asking you why you do thievery," Fai sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why do you steal anyway?"

"Personal business," the raven snapped almost by habit, glaring at him as if he'd been offended. "None of your concern, whatever your name is." The blond kept his unwavering smile on and replied,

"My name's Fai."

Kurogane frowned again, this time it turned deeper into a scowl as seconds passed. "Why are you telling me your name when I didn't even ask you for it?" he questioned. Fai blinked at him a couple of times before he laughed.

"Well I think it's not fair that I know your name, Kurogane, but you don't know mine!" He chuckled and his face seemed to radiate happiness, but Kurogane was completely unfazed by his laughter. The only thing that worried him was one thing.

How did he know his name again?

Kurogane thought back and smacked his forehead.

_Oh, I remember now_, he thought in a menacing tone. _Don't tell me Acosta blabbed my name out in the locker room the other day! _Kurogane smacked his forehead again, over and over, before he felt Fai's worried look on his face.

"Hey, you're gonna lose brain cells if you continue doing that," he said, reaching out to grab his fist away from his forehead. Kurogane took a step back, glaring down at him once again.

"So answer my question. How exactly do you know?" The blond sighed and let his shoulder droop.

"Well, I caught you and two other kids up on the roof one day," he noted, tapping his chin with his index finger, "and well, I think I saw one of 'it' going around near my house in the dark. It was when Ashura was over, and when we were doing a duet…"

Memories washed over him so hard and Kurogane fell back as if he really was consumed by water. _That voice,_ he thought, _was that guy's? _The word 'Impossible' struck him; such an elegant voice couldn't have come from this lanky, pathetic guy!

"You're not gonna tell anyone, right?" was all Kurogane could say.

Fai smiled at him in a crooked and dark way, tilting his head to the side. He took a deep breath and thought for the moment, closing his eyes. The blond finally let his breath out, and Kurogane almost jumped as his wide eyes suddenly snapped open.

"I won't."

The raven let out a breath that he didn't know he kept in and slumped back against the wall, running his hands through his hair once more. "Good. I would've had to knock you out senseless if you were."

Fai laughed at that and muttered something along the lines of 'I thought so.'

"So," he began, twirling one strand of hair around his finger in boredom, "why don't we talk this out thoroughly over some gelato, hmm?" Before Kurogane could open his mouth and reject, Fai was already opening to door to the small ice cream parlor, laughing and beckoning him over.

Once again, he had two choices.

One, go along with him and see if they can settle the scores evenly.

Or two, act normally and just run the hell out of here.

Almost by instinct – Kurogane couldn't feel his body at that brief moment – he made his way for the parlor, swinging the door open. Just as he stepped into the parlor and saw Fai bending down near the counter where different flavors of gelato were, he immediately regretted coming inside.

_I get a bad feeling that he's gonna make me pay for the gelato…_

…

Fierce amber eyes concentrated on the two figures talking behind the glass window, and they twitched slightly as one of them began laughing, throwing his head back. His frame began to tremble slightly, and his hands formed fists tightly. A girl beside him was sighing, trying to kick the amber eyed boy away from the window.

"It's his own personal interest, his own love life. Screw off, Syaoran, he doesn't want anyone looking. Syaoran!"

Sakura fumed as she realized that Syaoran was too busy gaping at Kurogane and Fai, throwing a mini fit, just loud enough so no one inside the building could hear.

"He-He's been dating someone behind our backs?" the boy squeaked, stomping his foot on the floor. "And he never told us when he came back!"

The girl sighed and rubbed her emerald eyes, trying not to lash out on him in the middle of the sidewalk. "Look, let's get going. Yukito-san just wanted us to get the groceries, right? Now let's hurry up!" She reached down and grabbed Syaoran by the collar of his school uniform, dragging him away into the dark alley. The amber eyed boy choked and began squirming his way from her death grip.

"S-Sakura! Henna-choko! Let me go!"

…

Touya was grumpily flipping eggs for an apparently sick Yukito, adding salt every few seconds as he cast a glance over his shoulder to his pale friend. Pain graced his figures as he coughed and hacked loudly, thumping his chest to stop the pain. Yukito let out a sigh and his head lolled back.

"Are they almost done, Touya?" he asked in a hoarse voice, his dull eyes staring a hole through the taller boy's back. Touya shifted his weight to his right foot and muttered, "Almost."

Yukito sighed once more, placing his hand on his lap, drumming his fingers against his thigh. Usually it was Touya sick and him making lunch, but awkwardly enough, it was the other way around.

_And today I was supposed to ask Kurogane to round a few objects down near town…_

…

"What?" Kurogane roared and pushed away the chair he was sitting on to stand up in shock.

Fai simply smiled creepily at him again, tapping the tip of his spoon on his lip. "If we become friends, I won't rat out on you!"

He stood there flabbergasted and couldn't help but let short gasps of air escape his lips. This boy, this idiotic, laid back teenager, was threatening him to rat on him if they didn't become friends?

_The part I hate_, Kurogane thought with a twitch, _is the 'becoming friends' part._

"No?" Fai asked, cocking his head to the side in a childish manner. "Well then," he drawled once more in that annoying tone, drawing out his cell phone from his back pocket, "I might as well dial up the police and tell them that I saw some thieves running around-."

Kurogane had to lung for the phone and throw it out the nearest open window to shut him up. He was panting heavily as his bloodshot eyes said everything; if Fai was to do something like that, he'd kill him first. The blond laughed nervously and waved him off, telling him that he was only kidding.

"Not the friend part though, Kuro-nya," Fai joked, folding his hands neatly on the table top. "So?"

Now this friendship thing didn't bother him much. It was just that nickname. 'Kuro-nya', he called him?

That was pushing it a bit too far.

In anger he stood up and marched out of the parlor, shouting out random outbursts to draw attention from the customers that sat eating their gelato. Whispers flooded to room as they glanced at Kurogane's back and Fai's cheery smile.

"Lovers?"

"They must've fought."

"If they did, I bet the blond would be crying right now…"

"Oh so sad!"

Fai craned his neck to face them, showing them his flashy smile. "Oh no, we're not lovers," he said loud enough so Kurogane could hear what he was saying from outside.

"We're just close friends, that's all."

Kurogane heard what he said and tried attacking him behind the glass mirror, banging his fists against the glass in anger, spewing curses at the giggling blond.

"Isn't that right, Kuro-chuu?" Fai teased as he winked at the raven. He fell back in shock and horror.

"My God," Kurogane muttered as he lied down on the cement sidewalk, slightly twitching, "how does Yasha-senpai keep up with this idiot and that Ashura guy?"

…

Meanwhile as the two seniors were locked up in their bedroom, kissing away, Yasha pulled back for a brief second as Ashura pulled back for air. Both had messy hair and hazy amber eyes, but as the younger one leaned forward to kiss him again, Yasha sneezed.

Ashura jumped back on the bed, clinging to the sheets with his hands.

"Jeez, don't just suddenly sneeze like that, Yasha-kun!"

The senior sniffled and rubbed his nose, grunting.

"It's not my fault; someone was just probably talking about me behind my back."

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**My, my, what a silly ending. I just had to put that little Yasha x Ashura part, not just "In the middle of his bedroom, where Yasha was studying his brains out, he sneezed." No, nothing like that. Add some shounen-ai in there, I had to. –Laughs- Well anyway, I finally came up with a chapitre. I'm so proud of myself!**

**Now what do I have to go over here? Ah yes!**

**First thing's first: _gelato_ is pretty much ice cream in Italian, though it tastes different, according to my friends. I have yet to go to Italy to try authentic gelato… -Cries- Funny. We can't really afford to go to Italy, my family.**

**Second: "_Basta, basta! Basta, ragazzi! Siedete!" _That pretty much meant "_Enough, enough! Enough, children _(or that could be plural for boys)_! Sit down!"_ Mhmm. We hear that constantly during homeroom. –Groans- I'm serious, one day I'll knock the living crap out of those kids…**

**Three: Uhh… What was it again? Oh yeah. 'Henna-choko' was a little… word I learned from _Kyou Kara Maou_. It means 'Wimp' really, and well… I thought Syaoran would be the teasing kind, y'know? Of course, the Syaoran in _Card Captor Sakura_. No, not the stoic, emotionless Syaoran in _Tsubasa_.**

**Ah, I guess that's it. Not too disappointed, really, since I don't think it was that bad. Next chapitre will come up whenever I have chapitre three for _Perfection_ or _Partners for Life_ down. Mhmm. Drop a review; thanks!**

**-Muffinizer, pyun!**


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